IIN Frontiers in Nanotechnology Seminar Series – Eiichi Nakamura

Professor Eiichi Nakamura

Department of Chemistry
The University of Tokyo

Atomic Resolution Electron Microscopic Movies: A New Analytical Tool for Organic Chemists

Abstract

A molecule is a quantum mechanical entity. Watching the motions and reactions of a molecule with our eyes has therefore been a dream of chemists for a century. This dream has come true with the aid of the movies of Single-Molecule Atomic-resolution Real-Time Transmission Electron Microscopic (SMART-EM) imaging made possible by the development of “chemical fish hooks” and fast and high-resolution electron microscopy. SMART-TEM imaging is a simple approach to the study of the structures and reactions of molecules and their assemblies, and will serve as a gateway to the research and education of the science connecting the quantum mechanical world and the real world.

Biography

Dr. Eiichi Nakamura is the Presidential Endowed Chair Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Tokyo. He obtained his PhD in Chemistry at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. After postdoctoral work at Columbia University, he started his academic career in 1980 at his alma mater. Nakamura works in the diverse field of synthetic and physical chemistry of organic and inorganic matters with a focus on their functions as, among other things, pharmaceuticals, and electronic devices. He pioneered atomic resolution transmission electron microscopy for organic chemistry research, and has been awarded the Chemical Society of Japan Award (2003), The Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon from his Majesty the Emperor (2009), The ACS Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award (2010), and The Centenary Prize of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2014). He is a member of the Science Council of Japan and Honorary Foreign Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2008).